Batman Theater Slaughter: Would Gun Control Laws Have Prevented it?

After every major shooting, the gun control advocates can be counted on to ask "NOW can't you see the need for gun control?" But does gun control really make sense?

Would gun control have prevented this slaughter? I doubt it. Guns will continue to be available for the person determined to get one, and the kind of person who does something like the Colorado movie theater shooting would be determined.

The problem isn't the weapon, it's the intent, and there are plenty of other ways to kill. There are even plenty of ways to kill en masse. A bomb brought into the theater could have killed more as could an incendiary device. In other contexts, there's poisoning food or water.

Is the cause of gun violence really the availability of guns or is it the nature of the people who use them? Other countries have similar or greater rates of gun possession (I believe both Israel and Switzerland have higher rates), but they don't have nearly the rate of gun violence.

The difference in gun violence between Switzerland and the United States comes down to the difference between the Swiss people and Americans, and I don't see Americans changing in any fundamental way anytime soon.

I agree with your point Unseen, but just to clarify, Israel and Switzerland have greater rates of gun possession due to military call-up. Government-issued assault rifles are kept in the homes of eligible adults, which for Israel means both sexes. The rifles are kept unloaded, and thus are harmless. Ammunition is given out by the military when and if they are called up. So this is not the same case as in the US. A similar system to this was in place during Saddam's rule over Iraq, incidentally, and many of those assault rifles I'm told ended up with the insurgents, who also got ahold of ammunition for them. Simply to clarify, these countries are not a comparable example to here. I believe in the right to keep and bear arms, but that does not include to me every possible caliber of weapon. Restrictions upon assault rifles seem constitutional, legal and reasonable personally.

"I feel any society with the right to bare arms, is doomed to destroy it self and people who want to own guns have something inherently wrong with them."

Exactly wherein lies my problem with my ownership of several firearms? I put food on my family's table with my guns. Your blanket statement that anyone who owns a firearm has something wrong with them flies in the face of the millions of responsible gun owners who are not a threat to our society. Self defense and procuring sustenance are certainly legitimate reasons for possessing a firearm.

Unfortunately, Americans aren't (for the most part) Irish. I suspect there are cultural differences at play since, even in Ireland, if someone wanted a gun, they surely could get one. People get drugs, don't they? or have laws against drugs made you a society with no drug users?

As I'm not from U.S, this is none of my business but what is the problem if the culture is to blame? What is the difference between the U.S and any other first world country like, say, England? Is it an ingrained wild-west attitude of "we sort out our own problems around here?".

Yeah thats in Northern Ireland. I'm from the Republic of Ireland. So your question doesn't really apply to where I am from. Our original fire arms act was implemented in 1925.

But in saying that a large portion of our regulations do come from the EU. I suppose I should have been more specific in my original comment, we don't have a complete ban on firearms as such, but we have very strict restrictions on getting them and when and where you can carry them. Its very difficult to get them.

You can however get a hunting licence for three years on a limited variety of firearms. But you are not allowed to be in a public place with firearms or anything that imitates a realistic firearm. Anyone applying for a licence will be put through a background check, not just to check up on criminal records but also psychological state of mind. You also have to prove that you have a good reason to own the firearm and that the firearm you intend to use is the only one you can use for its intended purpose. After that it will take three months for your application to be reviewed, if you don't get a response after that time you have been denied.

It is however completely illegal for any person in the Republic of Ireland to manufacture firearms. You can however import them provided you are a register fire arms dealer. Its so difficult to get a gun and have the legal rights to carry one, its hardly worth the effort.

Statistics show that our more strict policies on gun control have helped lower gun violence